Darklight: The YSDF
by Pale Wolf
Summary: Tired of being hunted down by every wannabe demon hunter, the Regency Council forms the Youma Self Defence Force, under the command of a young technical leader, to ensure their survival. When Ranma gets involved, this spells trouble for the Senshi.
1. Prologue 1: Providence: The Divine Spark

Disclaimer- Actually, everything in this particular prologue is mine except for Beryl, and even she's just mentioned. However, the story as a whole is a crossover of Ranma and Sailor Moon, both of which belong to their respective owners (in neither case does this include me). All characters who are not from either of these two series are mine (except for one case, but even she's very much public domain). This particular interpretation of Beryl's servitor race is mine, although some inspiration came from Black Jewels, they are fundamentally mine, and unique as far as I can tell. If you want to use anything of mine (I don't think so either, I'm just covering the bases) then I'd appreciate if you asked, or at least told me so I could see what you've done with it, although, as always, do as you like.

Warning- Spoilers. This is a given. Language. I don't really censor myself, I follow my characters. They may swear, they may not, I have no more say in the matter than you do. Also, as a warning, I got a lot of inspiration for this piece from Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy, although it's not a crossover. I tried to mimic the feel and tone of Black Jewels in my own way, so beware. If you don't know what this means... Dark, sensual, violent. Topics that are often considered extremely inappropriate for dinner-table conversation will come up, and people will die. In most uncomfortable ways. If you can't take what you see, stop looking.

(Font specifics: If you've read any of my stuff, you probably know this by know.

"Hi," speech.

/Boo/ mental communication-ie. telepathy.

-This- is an interruption.

_And this_ is either a thought, or signifies that whatever it is is stressed.)

Darklight: The YSDF

By Pale Wolf

First Prologue

Providence: The Divine Spark

Ten Years Ago

Exhaling, Pearl leaned back against the rough-hewn wall, prompting an irritated look from the guard next to her. Idly toying with one of the tendrils of pain drifting from the shut curtain separating them from the next room, she began drumming her fingers against one of the large stone blocks.

The guard bristled. "Have some patience, excess. You shouldn't even be _getting_ a youngling."

Pearl smirked. "_Well_, Miss- What the hell was your name?"

"Pyrite," she growled.

"Ah! Fools gold." Ignoring the growling soldier, she continued. "Anyway, Miss Pyrite, the fact is that Aquamarine asked my to 'take up her life' when she died. Since hunters got her, by traditions older than your liege-"

"_Our_ liege!"

"-by traditions older than Beryl, for these purposes, I _am_ Aquamarine. Remember? She asked me to care for the child, so I guess I will."

"Still," Pyrite grumbled. "Excess shouldn't be getting propagation."

Pearl's eyes drooped to slits. "Do you want to make an issue of it?"

The guard snorted. "_Please_. An excess against a guard. Stop jo-"

Pearl clamped her aural grip down on the tendrils, and caught Pyrite's own emanations of fear and anger. "Excess don't get much, you know. If anything. I'd _love_ the chance for a full feeding." She was still leaning indolently back against the wall, arms crossed over her chest.

Pyrite's eyes widened. "Do you have any idea what-?"

"I'll ask again," she interrupted, hooded eyes locked onto Pyrite's face. "Do you want to make an issue of it?"

The air thickened with the tendrils of fear Pyrite was emanating, Pearl waiting, aura calm, for her answer.

Finally, Pyrite slumped and angled her gaze down, muttering, "You're not worth it. Lifespan's mostly gone and still excess..." in her defense.

Pearl, smirking, released all the tendrils and nodded. "Damn straight! I mean, look at her," she gestured to the curtain. "Wailing and carrying on, practically. You call that prime? Then I'm proud to be excess."

"Don't you _dare_-!"

She was cut off by a sharp tug on one of the fear tendrils still floating around.

"Let me guess. Don't insult a Queen? What _is_ a Queen? What makes a Queen? I don't think I've ever insulted a single one."

Pyrite kept putting out anger, but, under Pearl's mild gaze, it never quite reached the strength of the fear. Finally, she averted her eyes.

Pearl shrugged. "She's bearing your youngling, isn't she?"

Pyrite's breath caught.

That seemed answer enough, as Pearl nodded. "Yeah, and you're _barely_ senior, you've got practically zero chance of another propagation 'indulgence', so if this one goes," she clicked her tongue, "that's it."

The tense silence was broken by the curtain opening, letting a blonde woman cradling a sphere of roiling energy slip in, closing the curtain behind her. "The birthing is complete. You may return to your post, Guard Pyrite."

Pyrite shot the midwife a grateful look and darted into the birthing room.

She fixed Pearl with a hard look. "Do you have any idea what this child _is_, Pearl?"

Pearl raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't. You're shrouding her, Aura."

She blushed slightly, but lifted the sphere up to view.

Peering at it, Pearl delved lightly in-

-then slammed herself back against the wall, jaw dropping. "Holy Mother..."

Aura smiled lightly. "Yes, that was about my reaction."

Pearl leaned forward, wrapping her arms around the blonde's neck in a hug and dragging Aura's ear to her lips. "Do you have the slightest idea what this could mean?!" she whispered fiercely.

Aura lightly shook her head, blushing as the motion inadvertently brushed Pearl's lips against her cheek. "No... I just thought you should see her."

Pearl smiled and drew back. "Think about it. The first one in millenia raised not as a Youma, but as a Rakshasa. This could mean _everything_."

Grasping her meaning, the blonde nodded, gently slipping the energy sphere into Pearl's grasp. "I'll lie in the report."

"_Thank you_." Impulsively, Pearl leaned in and pecked the midwife on the lips. Both blushed.

"You're answering for that next time I see you," Aura warned.

Pearl grinned. "I guess we'll have to see what you ask, and what my answers are."

Her blush deepened, and she stepped back to the curtain. She put her hand on it to push it aside-

"Wait."

Aura turned back uncertainly to see Pearl gazing intently at the energy sphere cradled in her arms. "...Yes?"

Frowning, Pearl glanced up at her. "What was it Silver always said?"

Closing her eyes in concentration, Aura quoted, "'We are the kindling, to spread the blaze to the Rakshasa.' What was the rest? Umm..."

Pearl recited the next bit with her, her own eyes half-shut in remembrance.

"'But even we need a spark to set us ablaze.'"

Aura nodded. "I think that's it."

"Thank you."

Blush returning somewhat, Aura flipped open the curtain and slipped back into the birthing room.

Attention devoted solely to the child held in her arms and aura, Pearl hummed to herself. "So, little spark, what should I call you?"

Her humming cut off as, with a loud cracking noise, most of her left arm was ripped away into nothing. Blood would've been spurting madly from the frayed, almost moth-eaten limb, except that she, having fallen to her knees from the effort of reining in the pain, had instantly adjusted the arm's flesh to seal off the wound, energizing, redesigning, and replacing in one smooth action.

A second cracking heralded the appearance, cradled in Pearl's single working arm, of a baby. It looked... a little off, like it was a child's scrawled crayon drawing compared to the Mona Lisa of an actual baby- but the child who 'drew' _this_ was quite talented for a child.

"Holy Mother... This soon?" she muttered to herself, absently stroking the baby's tuft of electic blue hair. She grinned (despite her currently ravaged left arm) and hefted the baby a little higher in her right, prompting a gurgle that was probably supposed to be a delighted coo. "What should I call you?" She smirked. "What else? Let's go see Silver, eh Seikaa?"

Next: Second Prologue! Ranma finally appears. On the long training trip, he makes a... friend.

Author's Notes (Perhaps relevant, perhaps not, but not strictly the story)

E-mail is miraclewolf at hotmail

Welcome to my dark side. This is currently the most _vicious_ story I have in production. If you like the Senshi and can't stand to see them as anything other than perfect defenders of good and right... Run away, little one, and hope the bogeyman doesn't catch you. As I see it, the Senshi are, fundamentally, children, trapped by their preconcieved notions. They shoot first, and little remains when they're done shooting to answer questions. They seem to have the mindset of 'human equals good, monster bad', and they have an incredibly annoying belief that their side is automatically in the right, so they never try to understand the other side. Here, that's going to come back and bite them in the ass. This story is mostly from the monster's point of view, and for once they're going up against trained and skilled soldiers, and desperate survivors. Their current methods of operation are not going to carry them far.

And I'm going to need to say this so often, with my fics: I don't have anything against Pluto, in fact I like her. But I can see her potential as an antagonist, and the character as we know her fits very well into that role. More will be addressed in a later author's note.

If you like Genma (Does anyone?) then don't run. Teleport. I call it as I see it with most characters. I think I've come to a realization about him, and I don't like what I see.

I'll address questions I think people may have about characterizations or whatever in the appropriate author's notes.

In this case, you'll have noticed I tinkered with the conventional view of Beryl's youma. Also, I imagine by now you've noticed a few things that seem not quite... right about the Rakshasa. Please, point out any oddities you see. Hopefully, these are all intentional, but I'd like to confirm. And I will try to correct anything unintentional.

What were your impressions? What about Pearl and Aura, what did you think of them (either individually or together)? As always, I want to make sure I got the right messages across, so please tell me what you gathered, I'll tell you if that was what I was trying to convey. Maybe. Anyway, feedback. Point out any errors I may not have noticed, I trust myself and my prereader, but neither of us is perfect (prereader's damn good though, and I'd like to think I qualify for that title too). And I'm always open for more prereaders.

I feel the urge to say more, but have nothing to say. Shutting up now.


	2. Prologue 2: Widowmaker: Coven of the Hou...

Disclaimer-Here, Yumiko's mine. But Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi (including Genma, although why anyone would _want_ him...). Sailor Moon, which doesn't actually take an appearance in this prologue, is Naoko Takeuchi's. The story itself is mine, though, and as always I'd appreciate it if people came up with their own rather than stealing it for whatever reason.

Warning- Spoilers. This is a given. Language. I don't really censor myself, I follow my characters. They may swear, they may not, I have no more say in the matter than you do. Also, as a warning, I got a lot of inspiration for this piece from Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy, although it's not a crossover. I tried to mimic the feel and tone of Black Jewels in my own way, so beware. If you don't know what this means... Dark, sensual, violent. Topics that are often considered extremely inappropriate for dinner-table conversation will come up, and people will die. In most uncomfortable ways. If you can't take what you see, stop looking.

(Font specifics:If you've read any of my stuff, you probably know this by know.

"Hi," speech.

/Boo/ mental communication-ie. telepathy.

-This- is an interruption.

_And this_ is either a thought, or signifies that whatever it is is stressed.)

Darklight: The YSDF

By Pale Wolf

Second Prologue

Widowmaker: Coven of the Hourglass

Ten Years Ago

His father was asleep. He'd passed out a while ago, glutted on stolen sake and enough fish to feed a small town for a month (a purpose which it would have served had it not been stolen).

His bags were packed. They were always packed. No point unpacking when you never stayed anywhere for long.

It was time to go. Time to get away from the hitting, the stealing, the starving, the loneliness, the constant hanging threat of another Neko-ken-like moment...

Cutting the litany off while there was still daylight, Ranma uncurled from his normal sleeping position, snatched his pack and levered it up into position on his back, grunting softly at the weight. Stepping softly, he made his way across the bare dirt, sure that his heart was beating loudly enough to wake Genma.

Fortunately, he turned out to be wrong, and made it into the forest they'd camped outside of, stopping a little way in, just under a randomly chosen tree.

Hopping up to the lowest branch, Ranma strained his young muscles to pull himself and his heavy pack up, inching until he could make one final heave up onto the branch, laying bonelessly to recover a bit of energy. Ridiculously harsh training or no, Ranma was still only a child, still got little sleep and less food, he only had so much strength. Maybe if he'd been stronger, he wouldn't have had to leave Mom, he could've had enough to eat more than every blue moon... he could've been safe and warm. Mom was warm...

He hadn't rested long before he forced himself to stand, picked a thick limb on a tree to the front right, gathered himself, and lept. No time for that now. Only time to run.

He only just made it, crouching slightly to balance himself. He permitted himself one gasp for air before scrambling onto another limb, creeping out as far as he dared go, then making the jump to another...

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Something felt... off. Groggy and slow, he brought himself to awareness. It didn't take long to notice-the boy was gone. Genma's face reddened.

Damned boy! Such a nightmare to train and have around. If he hadn't been taking the long view, trying to train the boy right, he'd never have bothered. Where was the damned ungrateful brat?!

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The boy came to a landing from the last tree-jump, dropping the pack and gasping for breath. If he wasn't far enough away by now, he'd never get away.

A shift in the shadows instantly put him on guard.

"Who's there?"

No reply.

"I'm not stupid. I'll count to five, then I'm going in swinging. One." Silence. "Two." Still nothing. "Three."

"I wouldn't suggest it," a soft voice -a teenage girl's voice- interjected. "You might hurt yourself."

Ranma narrowed his eyes. "Then come out!"

"I _really_ don't think that's a good idea."

Gritting his teeth, Ranma barked, "_Look_, lady, I'm in the wild, middle of the night! Nothing I shouldn't worry about would hide!"

An odd wheezing sound. "All right. But promise you won't panic."

Ranma bowed his head. "I promise."

That odd wheezing sound again. Then underbrush crackled in an oddly fast pattern, as if she were running. A bush was pressed down, allowing him to see a _huge_ shadow step into the clearing: a bit taller than his father, four times that in length, triple that in width. That girl's voice came from it. "I really don't think you want to see me. But, if you insist..." The shadow's receded from the huge form, revealing first eight spiny, hairy, multijointed black legs, then a somewhat narrow multisegmented body raised off the ground. A gigantic spider.

Ranma lost his stance in wonder. "Wow... You're _so_ cool, lady!"

The spider would _definitely_ have blinked if it had eyelids. "You're not scared?"

Ranma did blink, looking up into her many eyes. "Should I be? You're not a c-c-c-thing... and you're nice. Can I pet you?"

It was another 'blink' moment, but after processing the request, she stepped a little closer, each leg moving independently. "Go ahead. What's your name, anyway? I'm Maruyama Yumiko."

Ranma stepped up, running a hand down one of her legs. It was hard and cold, but smooth and comfortable. Strong. Safe. "I'm Saotome Ranma."

"Oooh... That is _nice_. But Ranma, you're... what? Ten?"

Blushing, Ranma shook his head. "Seven."

Yumiko's body bobbed down momentarily in what looked like a spider's version of a shrug. "Sorry, I suck with ages. Anyway, what're you doing way out here at night?"

Quietly. "Running from Pops."

Yumiko stiffened, shifting protectively.

Ranma didn't notice, laying his head against one of her legs. He wanted to speak, and, given a sympathetic ear, the floodgates were open. "I wanna learn martial arts, but not from him! I don't want him to hit me anymore, I want enough ta eat! I don't wanna keep leavin' my friends... I wanna see my mom!!!" He fell against her, listless, not making a sound, but there was an itch in his eyes that he mercilessly fought off.

Yumiko carefully maneuvered one of her legs to gently stroke Ranma's back. "Shhh. I'll help you find your mom. And I won't let your father hurt you. Is that all right?"

Little Ranma looked up at the spider's inhuman face that, despite its alien appearance, still managed to ooze concern. He nodded solemnly.

"Let's rest, okay? Then we'll go."

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Next: Third Prologue! The end of Ranma's happy time comes, and a mysterious figure gives Genma a dangerous artifact. Who? Why? And what does it do?

Author's Notes (You try coming up with smart-ass comments that fit in all the time.)

E-mail is miraclewolf at 

You may note the chapter title. Don't worry, Black Jewel readers, this Coven of the Hourglass shares little more than a name with the Black Jewels Hourglass. If Ranma doesn't seem as superhuman as normal to you... he's seven. I imagine you're wondering why a spider has a Japanese name. Don't worry, you'll see. All my normal statements apply: you see any inconsistency or wierd stuff, don't hesitate to tell me, don't hesitate to give me your impressions so I'll know how successful I am, and I'm always open to suggestions. Doesn't mean I'll follow them: when it comes right down to it, _I_ am the author, but I do promise to listen seriously. And about Ranma's breakdown... did I do alright with it? Any feedback on that would be helpful, I _ will _post up revised chapters. I just feel a little unsure about it. And what did you think about Yumiko? I want to talk, but there doesn't really seem to be much that'll spark any controversy here, so I'll just leave. One last note: I think I finally figured out how to get this text to look properly formatted!


	3. Prologue 3: Time Hole: The Corruption of...

Disclaimer-Now, finally, we have the first tentative crossing. Anyway, while insane, I am not quite so far gone as to claim ownership of either Ranma or Sailor Moon, or at least not and expect to be believed.

Warning- Spoilers. This is a given. Language. I don't really censor myself, I follow my characters. They may swear, they may not, I have no more say in the matter than you do. Also, as a warning, I got a lot of inspiration for this piece from Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy, although it's not a crossover. I tried to mimic the feel and tone of Black Jewels in my own way, so beware. If you don't know what this means... Dark, sensual, violent. Topics that are often considered extremely inappropriate for dinner-table conversation will come up, and people will die. In most uncomfortable ways. If you can't take what you see, stop looking.

(Font specifics:If you've read any of my stuff, you probably know this by know.

"Hi," speech.

/Boo/ mental communication-ie. telepathy.

-This- is an interruption.

_And this_ is either a thought, or signifies that whatever it is is stressed.)

Darklight: The YSDF

By Pale Wolf

Third Prologue

Time Hole: The Corruption of History

Ten Years Ago

Now was a junction point. A powerful witch was coming into her own, and another child was heading onto a path that would put him squarely against the Senshi. Sailor Pluto had to act. _Nothing_ could interfere with the Silver Millenium's return. Nothing was more important than returning control of everything to the Serenity line.

Still, she didn't really want to kill the kid: he hadn't done anything wrong yet. 'If only there was some way to keep him in Genma's custody', had been her line of thought. Then she'd realized how close the coming encounter was. If Genma's initial, lethal, strike didn't miss, the witch would never have the chance to take him seriously. It had taken some planning, since, like any use of the Time Gate, the moment she disrupted the original path for any part of it, she wouldn't even be able to watch that part for quite some time.

Eventually, she'd realized all she needed to do was pull enough alchohol out of his system that he'd shoot straight.

And it was time to do it. She reached into the Gate with her power, red eyes hard...

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"BOY!!!" Genma roared, stomping up to the slowly stirring child. "Come with me, brat!" Seeing the fear in his son's eyes, he flushed, partially with booze, partially with anger. "You're becoming a girl already! Now I've got to work even harder to make you a man!" He reached for ranma's collar...

...then was blasted back as something hit him, straight in the sternum. A huge spider dropped from the treetops, standing protectively over his son.

Ranma looked up. "Yumiko!"

She kept all of her eyes of Genma. "I made a promise. I will _never_ break a promise."

Genma shifted into a stance. "Get away from my son!"

Yumiko gave off a vicious, rattling growl. "Over a dead body. Yours." She crouched back, ready to lunge, mandibles swinging open.

No one even exhaled.

Genma moved first, snapping up one of his arms, shouting, "Kijin Raishuu Dan!"

Yumiko made her lunge, but didn't get far before the vacuum blade connected just to the left of her head, instantly shearing off her entire left side. She fell down in seven mismatched pieces, splashing fluids over Ranma, twitching violently.

Ranma shook his head, rushing to Yumiko's side. "No! You were gonna help me find Mom!"

She forced down the twitching, twisting her rearmost leg (right side, obviously), to contact the top of Ranma's head. "I'm... sorry... All I... can do... I welcome you into the Hourglass... Our coven sisters... will help... you..."

Striding up to Yumiko's head, Genma heard this, and chortled. "Nobody's taking the boy, monster. He's _mine_!" He slammed down a hammer fist onto her head, splitting it like an overripe watermelon. He snatched Ranma's collar in one hand, the pack in the other, ignoring the boy's yells.

"Lemme go! No! Leave me-!"

Genma cuffed him with the pack. "Shut up, boy! You sound even more girly than-!"

"Might I be of assistance?" a soft old man's voice quetied, cutting through Genma's yells.

Genma whirled around to face the bent, withered old man, raising his hands defensively, dropping the pack and the groggy boy. "You can leave. I'm having enough trouble with the boy."

The man extended his arms out to the side in a sign of harmlessness. "Disobedient children are a real problem, aren't they? You try to impart your wisdom to them and they just refuse to behave, refuse to learn."

Genma relaxed. "I know. I'm trying to make the boy a man, but he keeps on falling back, getting girly again, umm..."

"Regressing?" the man suggested.

"Ah! Right. Regressing." Genma had never heard the word before.

Ranma, regaining his coherency, rolled to get traction and darted away.

Genma caught him and dealt him a heavy blow that knocked him unconscious.

The man shook his head. "Sad, isn't it? I have a few things that _might_ help you." He slipped off his own pack, opening the flap and searching inside.

Genma dropped Ranma. "How much?"

The old man waved him off. "I'd be happy to help a good man like yourself." He pointed at Yumiko's body. "I mean, look at that monster you killed. This world _needs_ more people like you." While Genma preened, the man pulled out a bottle filled with a pearlescent, thick and viscous fluid. He held it up to Genma for inspection. "This will make him docile, until the antidote is applied."

Genma frowned. "But I'm trying to make him a _man_! He needs to be able to fight!"

The old man nodded consideringly, withdrawing the bottle. "Good point... What about..." Muttering to himself, he delved back into the bag, shuffling until he pulled out a thin glass vial filled with a clear, free-flowing liquid that had a carving, exceptionally pale wood in an odd design, tied to the cork by a cord. "This. It won't directly alter behaviour, but he will follow your orders, and yours alone."

Genma leaned in. "How does it work?"

The man's red eyes glittered. "Make him drink the liquid. It will stay with him for his whole life. Now, give him an order normally, and he'll react as normally as he can. However, hold this," he flicked the carving attached to the vial, "and concentrate a little on what you want. He'll do it. Now, you should be aware, the stronger his mind gets, the more concentration you should put in. But he should never develop the power to be uncontrollable, even if he gets far stronger than you. And be careful. Concentrate too hard and you might fry his mind. That will make him totally useless to you. You like?"

Genma snatched the vial from the man's hand.

"Feel free to test it out. And it's not just orders. He'll believe anything you tell him like that. You see, what it does is put him in a hypersuggestible state, susceptible only to the right transmission frequency. The carving transmits the suggestions and-"

"I don't need all that," Genma cut in. This old geezer was seeming a bit girly himself (see note 1). He ducked down to Ranma, pried open the boy's mouth, tilted his head back, popped the vial's cork, and poured the liquid down Ranma's throat. He watched the boy's neck to make sure he swallowed, then stood up. "Wake up, boy." He frowned, idly kicking the unconscious child. "It's not working."

"The carving," the man suggested, packing up his supplies.

Genma sweatdropped. "I knew that! I was just testing you." He fumbled for the carving, holding it as gently as he could in his meaty hand. "What if I break it?"

"You won't," the man replied instantly.

"But what if I _do_?" Genma insisted.

The man shrugged. "If the signal is disrupted, you'll need to find me to fix it or make a new one, or have no control over little Ranma. So don't. But relax. It will take an attack stronger than what you killed that spider with just to scratch it."

Genma nodded and clamped his hand down on the carving. Sure enough, it didn't give. He turned to Ranma... Then whirled back around. "Wait a minute! How'd you know...?" But there was no one there. "How'd you know the boy's name?" he asked, even though nobody would answer. He shrugged, going back to Ranma. "May as well make sure it works." He made sure his grip was firm, then, "Wake up, boy!"

Ranma's eyes snapped open, staring sightlessly up as his mouth opened in a scream of pain.

"Shut up!"

Ranma instantly silenced, but the pain was still clear on his face.

Genma frowned. His son must be too weak. He toned down the power for the next order. "Stand up."

Glaring at him, Ranma stood.

"Lose that look, boy. I'm your father, and you enjoy everything we do."

Ranma's entire demeanor changed, smiling cheerfully at Genma.

Genma grinned. The boy wasn't acting manly, but that could be corrected later. At least now he was controllable. "You trust me completely. I always know best."

Ranma nodded.

"Speak, boy!"

"Okay Pops. What about?"

"Never mind. Get that pack and let's go back to the camp."

Ranma nodded. "Uh-huh!" He bounced over to the pack, hefting it up onto his small shoulders. He glanced at Yumiko's corpse, then suddenly began to shake, violently.

Genma growled. "Forget about that thing!"

Ranma slowly calmed.

"Forget about your friends. Forget about your pain. Forget about your mother. You will forget anyone except me as soon as you leave them. You will give me whatever I want and be happy about it. You will come with me, now!"

Ranma nodded and followed Genma out of the forest.

But nobody knew, under Ranma's hair, tattooed on his scalp, was a symbol of a black widow on a web.

Next: First Chapter! The YSDF finally forms. And Ranma struggles with daytime nightmares, conscious flashbacks to things he will not believe happened. The river of time is about to shed it's course and run onto the land.

Author's Notes (The stuff. So I don't have a cute remark. It's past midnight. Sue me.)

E-mail is miraclewolf at 

(1)No. Genma is _not_ being uncannily perceptive. He just associates manliness with stupidity, intellect with cowardice and 'girlyness'.

Hoo boy. Remember how the last chapter was pretty non-controversial? Well, now we've entered the shadow. Departure time? Who knows,but it isn't very soon. Hopefully I'll get some really nasty flames about this story, especially later chapters (It has not yet reached the darkest point).

The thing about the control? Now, I don't actually make theories about the source (that keeps me much more flexible) but in this case, I thought a few things. One, Ranma's abysmal memory. Two, Genma's behaviour. He keeps bellowing out orders, and it seems, to me anyway, that he's under the impression that Ranma's listening and obeying. From what we've seen of Ranma, that's bullshit, so what gave him that impression? (Canonically it's probably stupidity, but...) And why doesn't Ranma obey him in the canon, under this theory? Well... you'll have to find out.

Guessed who the 'salesman' is? Good.

Anyone wondering how a spider's talking, or for that matter existing without crunching under gravity... It's magical. No more than that will be revealed as now. But I imagine you can put things together. And what do you think about Yumiko's death? Did I manage to make you care?

Yes, Pluto thinks she's being humanitarian by putting a child back in Genma's 'care'. She's not perfect, and incorrect assumptions can cause untold trouble for her. I have a little dossier on this Pluto if anyone wants it, but I'm more hoping I did a good enough job without it. If anyone raises good questions, which I am expecting, I'll explain what I can, as privately as I can. But I'm _hoping_ my writing's good enough to answer those questions in the story. The dossier, I have that sort of thing on most of the major chars. Including Genma. So I'm ready for questions and complaints about characterization.

About the Time Gate, the limitation I put on it, I thought that up simply to make it possible to win against the generally-foresight-capable Pluto. Basically, she knows how the timeline will act without interference, but butterfly effect and unexpected paths can tear her plans to shreds. That's just when I'm using this theory, though.

Oh, and I forgot to mention. I will respond personally to any review, by e-mail if possible, or in the same reviews page if I can't find e-mail, even if just to thank you for your review. Questions will get answered (in a teasing manner meant to minimize spoilers and heighten anticipation), and I'll clear up whatever people don't understand-unless it's not meant to be understood at this point. Anyway, _feedback_.


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